Noise > Signal

I really do/did think that the jokes about the current head of Catholicism being a Nazi were maybe a bit too easy and even possibly disingenuous.  He was a member of the Hitler Youth, but it’s not necessarily right to hold that against him, as he was a child.  And I have enough problems with the Catholic church that I don’t need to resort to calling the pope a Nazi.  But.

From my favorite daily news wrap-up, David Brauer’s The Daily Glean over at MinnPost.com:

“Pope Benedict recently decided denying the Holocaust was no reason for excommunication, but one of the bishops he reinstated headed a Winona seminary for 15 years, the Winona Daily News reports. Bishop Richard Williamson claims zero Jews died in gas chambers; he headed St. Thomas Aqunias Seminary from 1988 to 2003. The seminary and its ultraconservative society recently repudiated Williamson, but its Web site lavishly praises him.”

Notice the article doesn’t say he WAS a holocaust denier, he IS.  Currently.  He believes the holocaust was fake.   Here are some choice quotes from the Winona article:

ON JEWS:

“There was not one Jew killed in the gas chambers. It was all lies, lies, lies. The Jews created the Holocaust so we would prostrate ourselves on our knees before them and approve of their new State of Israel. … Jews made up the Holocaust, Protestants get their orders from the devil, and the Vatican has sold its soul to liberalism.“

ON WOMEN:

“Because of all kinds of natural reasons, almost no girl should go to any university!“

“Woman’s nature is intrinsically geared to motherhood, so that in all things pertaining to motherhood she is man’s superior, in all else she is his inferior.“

ON HOMOSEXUALITY:

“The sin is so unnatural that Mother Church ranks it alongside murder.“

“What is ‘innate,’ or in-born, in human nature concerning homosexuality is a violent repugnance.”

This is a man that was already excommunicated, and the pope saw fit to, um, unexcommunicate?  communicate? recommunicate?  I don’t know.  I also don’t know why I should care who they decide to kick out and let back into their club.  But now I think maybe I can go back to calling the pope a Nazi.

Or maybe less?  First, the reference to non-believers in the inauguration speech, and now a presidential oath sans bible?  It’s almost like our government is becoming less theocratic before our very eyes.

Guardian

Reuters Video

Reuters Article

than it would be a bit hard to let yesterday’s drama pass without mention, so I’ll say this: It made me very happy, like many others around the country and the world. When people were asked to stand for the oath (Obama’s, not Biden’s), everyone in the auditorium that I was in stood up, with virtually no hesitation. Inspiring, to be sure. For all the arguments over whether this man and his administration will bring real change, one thing is difficult to dispute. Things will be different. Things will be better. Perception Is reality in some cases. This matters, for instance. But he will do things that I don’t like, that annoy me. Like letting the asshole Warren speak, or any preacher for that matter. But in sum, I expect to be more pleased with my government than I have been in quite a while. So, I’m cautiously optimistic. And I intend to do my best to criticize when he deserves it and to defend when he deserves that. ‘s all.

I can’t imagine more than one or two people have seen this site since I got all excited about trying to do this again, and I’m probably posting way too much for a day and a half.  But you need to read this:

Krispy Kreme vs. the American Life League.

Public relations gaffe, indeed.

Thanks, PZ.  God love you. Science, et al love you.

May not be as quotable as Voltaire*, but you’re not apt to find that here anyway.  This might be inappropriate to post, as it’s like three or four degrees removed by now, but this is the best thing that Norm Coleman’s lawyer has said so far: “I would do anything for Norm except vote for him.”

This is a perfect example why I love MinnPost.com so much.

*The, “I may disapprove of what you say” line is apparently incorrectly attributed to Voltaire, but it’s not like you know who Evelyn Beatrice Hall is anyway.

I’m new to blogging, so I hope this isn’t stealing. David Levinson at The Transportationist posted this article from The Atlantic and you should read it. Yes, you. Whichever one of you reads my blog. It shouldn’t be a funny article, but it is. Airport security’s a big deal now, right? Very sophisticated, expensive and thorough. Right.

“He [Bruce Schneier] had made these boarding passes in his sophisticated underground forgery works, which consists of a Sony Vaio laptop and an HP LaserJet printer.”

[Admin note: This post was a reference to the original title of this blog, "This is not a music blog."]

This is not a music blog because, if there can be said to be qualifications required to be a music blogger, I do not posses them. But a music blog seemed like the most appropriate type of blog for me to write that would have any kind of focus. So, by way of clarification, this is not a music blog. I hope that’s clear.